2022 Keystone Pipeline oil spill

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Keystone Pipeline oil spill
2022 Keystone Pipeline oil spill
Location Washington County, Kansas, United States
Coordinates 39°50′32″N96°59′48″W / 39.8422617°N 96.9965473°W / 39.8422617; -96.9965473
DateDecember 7, 2022
Cause
Operator TC Energy
Spill characteristics
Volume588,000 U.S. gallons (14,000 barrels)

The Keystone Pipeline oil spill occurred on December 7, 2022, when a leak in the Keystone Pipeline released 14,000 barrels of oil into a creek in Washington County, Kansas. [1] The leak is the largest in the United States since the 2013 North Dakota pipeline spill and the largest in the history of the Keystone Pipeline. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Background

The Keystone Pipeline System spans from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in Alberta to refineries in Texas. [5] The oil pipeline is owned by TC Energy and the Government of Alberta. [6] Pipelines in the Keystone Pipeline System go through stress tests prior to use. [4]

Detection and response

At 9:01 p.m. EDT on December 7, the first indication of a leak on the pipeline was signaled. At 9:08 p.m., TC Energy launched an emergency shutdown of the Keystone Pipeline, following a drop in pressure. [7] The Environmental Protection Agency built an earthen dam to contain the spill. [4] The leak was detected near Washington County, Kansas, and spilled into Mill Creek, a creek that flows directly into the Little Blue River (Kansas/Nebraska). [8] An evacuation order was not ordered. [9] [10]

Environmental impact

The leak raised concerns from environmentalists due to the transfer of tar sands through the pipeline, which are more toxic than crude oil and can sink in water. [4]

Pipeline investigation

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration began an investigation into the leak. [7] The Environmental Protection Agency dispatched two coordinators, who determined there was no impact to drinking water in the Washington County area. [11]

Cause of the spill

The independent analysis of the failure concluded that the failure occurred due to a combination of factors, including bending stress on the pipe and a weld flaw at a pipe to fitting girth weld that was completed at a fabrication facility. [12]

Economic impact

The price of crude oil rose 5% following the shutdown of the Keystone Pipeline, before receding. The surge occurred during a selloff of the price of oil, following the 2021–2022 global energy crisis. [7] TC Energy declared a force majeure upon news of the leak. [13] The spill, which leaked into a creek in Washington County, Kansas, cost about $480 million in clean-up efforts. [14]

Related Research Articles

Enbridge Inc. is a multinational pipeline and energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Enbridge owns and operates pipelines throughout Canada and the United States, transporting crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids, and also generates renewable energy. Enbridge's pipeline system is the longest in North America and the largest oil export pipeline network in the world. Its crude oil system consists of 28,661 kilometres of pipelines. Its 38,300 kilometre natural gas pipeline system connects multiple Canadian provinces, several US states, and the Gulf of Mexico. The company was formed by Imperial Oil in 1949 as the Interprovincial Pipe Line Company Limited to transport Alberta oil to refineries. Over time, it has grown through acquisition of other existing pipeline companies and the expansion of their projects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TC Energy</span> Canadian energy company

TC Energy Corporation is a major North American energy company, based in the TC Energy Tower building in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, that develops and operates energy infrastructure in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. The company operates three core businesses: Natural Gas Pipelines, Liquids Pipelines and Energy.

The Enbridge Pipeline System is an oil pipeline system which transports crude oil and dilbit from Canada to the United States. The system exceeds 5,000 kilometres (3,100 mi) in length including multiple paths. More than 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi) of the system is in the United States while the rest is in Canada and serves the Athabasca oil sands production facilities. Main parts of the system are 2,306-kilometre-long (1,433 mi) Canadian Mainline and 3,057-kilometre-long (1,900 mi) Lakehead System. On average, it delivers 1.4 million barrels per day of crude oil and other products to the major oil refineries in the American Midwest and the Canadian province of Ontario. The Canadian portion is owned by Enbridge, while the U.S. portion is partly owned by that company through Enbridge Energy Partners, LP, formerly known as Lakehead Pipe Line Partners and Lakehead Pipe Line Company.

Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. is a master limited partnership engaged in pipeline transport, marketing, and storage of liquefied petroleum gas and petroleum in the United States and Canada. Plains owns interests in 18,370 miles (29,560 km) of pipelines, storage capacity for about 75 million barrels of crude oil, 28 million barrels of NGLs, 68 billion cubic feet of natural gas, and 5 natural gas processing plants. The company is headquartered in the Allen Center in Downtown Houston, Texas. Plains is a publicly traded Master limited partnership. PAA owns an extensive network of pipeline transportation, terminalling, storage and gathering assets in key crude oil and NGL producing basins and transportation corridors at major market hubs in the United States and Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keystone Pipeline</span> Oil pipeline in North America

The Keystone Pipeline System is an oil pipeline system in Canada and the United States, commissioned in 2010 and owned by TC Energy and, as of March 2020, the Government of Alberta. It runs from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in Alberta to refineries in Illinois and Texas, and also to oil tank farms and an oil pipeline distribution center in Cushing, Oklahoma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long Lake (oil sands)</span> Airport in Anzac

The Long Lake oil sands upgrader project is an in situ oil extraction project near Anzac, Alberta, 40 km (25 mi) southeast of Fort McMurray in the Athabasca oil sands region of Alberta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kalamazoo River oil spill</span> 2010 oil spill in Calhoun County, Michigan, US

The Kalamazoo River oil spill occurred in July 2010 when a pipeline operated by Enbridge burst and flowed into Talmadge Creek, a tributary of the Kalamazoo River near Marshall, Michigan. A 6-foot (1.8 m) break in the pipeline resulted in one of the largest inland oil spills in U.S. history. The pipeline carries diluted bitumen (dilbit), a heavy crude oil from Canada's Athabasca oil sands to the United States. Cleanup took five years. Following the spill, the volatile hydrocarbon diluents evaporated, leaving the heavier bitumen to sink in the water column. Thirty-five miles (56 km) of the Kalamazoo River were closed for clean-up until June 2012, when portions of the river were re-opened. On March 14, 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ordered Enbridge to return to dredge portions of the river to remove submerged oil and oil-contaminated sediment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Mayflower oil spill</span>

The 2013 Mayflower oil spill occurred on March 29, 2013, when the Pegasus Pipeline, owned by ExxonMobil and carrying Canadian Wabasca heavy crude from the Athabasca oil sands, ruptured in Mayflower, Arkansas, about 25 miles (40 km) northwest of Little Rock releasing about 3,190 barrels of oil. Approximately 3,190 barrels of oil and water mix was recovered. Twenty-two homes were evacuated. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classified the leak as a major spill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enbridge Line 5</span> Major Canadian oil pipeline

Enbridge Line 5 is a 645-mile oil pipeline owned by the Canadian multinational corporation Enbridge. Constructed in 1953, the pipeline conveys crude oil from western Canada to eastern Canada via the Great Lakes states. Line 5 is part of the Enbridge Lakehead System and passes under the environmentally sensitive Straits of Mackinac, which connect Lake Michigan to Lake Huron. The 30-inch pipeline carries 540,000 barrels (86,000 m3) of synthetic crude, natural gas liquids, sweet crude, and light sour crude per day as of 2013.

References

  1. ↑ Lysen, Dylan (December 12, 2022). "250 workers deployed to the Keystone pipeline spill in Kansas, but the cleanup's end isn't in sight". KCUR . Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  2. ↑ Seba, Erwin; Williams, Nia (December 9, 2022). "Investigators, cleanup crews begin scouring oil pipeline spill in Kansas". Reuters . Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  3. ↑ "Keystone pipeline leaks 14,000 barrels of oil into creek in biggest spill yet". The Guardian . December 9, 2022. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Kansas oil spill is Keystone pipeline's biggest ever, according to federal data". NPR . December 10, 2022. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  5. ↑ United States Department of State Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (March 1, 2013). Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Keystone XL Project Applicant for Presidential Permit: TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, LP (SEIS) (PDF) (Report). United States Department of State . Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  6. ↑ "TC Energy – Keystone XL Pipeline". www.tcenergy.com. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  7. 1 2 3 Egan, Matt (December 8, 2022). "Keystone Pipeline shuts down after oil leak, halting flow of 600,000 barrels a day". CNN . Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  8. ↑ "Oil spill into a rural Kansas creek shuts down the Keystone pipeline". Los Angeles Times . December 9, 2022. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  9. ↑ Mercado, Angely (December 9, 2022). "An Oil Spill in Kansas Has Shut Down the Keystone Pipeline". Gizmodo . Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  10. ↑ https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/32022074CAO/32022074CAO_Corrective%20Action%20Order%20(Amended)_03072023_(22-261792).pdf
  11. ↑ Bryson Taylor, Derrick (December 9, 2022). "Oil Spill in Kansas Prompts Shutdown of Keystone Pipeline System". The New York Times . Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  12. ↑ https://www.tcenergy.com/incident/milepost-14-incident/#collapse_id_f8e095d7-bb66-4cd9-9a0e-0fadbc763e3d
  13. ↑ "Keystone Pipeline Is Shut Down After Oil Spills Into Creek in Kansas". Bloomberg News . December 8, 2022. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  14. ↑ https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/10/us/keystone-pipeline-spill-investigation/index.html
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